During Miss Sterns’ 1st grade Reading Hour, I sat close, leaned in, smelled the perfume, and dedicated myself to earnest effort; knowing the only thing that rivals reading, is being ‘in love’ with your 1st grade teacher; who sadly abandoned us to marry at Christmas! We were left bereft! What to do? I kept my nose in a book.

Mrs Sweet, my S.S. Teacher, delighted to mis—quote the Bible. She often skipped or changed words. Her errors energized us pupils. Our mission: 1) Correct her mis—guided theology. 2) Re-arrange her fanciful flannel—board stories to align w/ the Good  Book. Only after we were ‘properly promoted’ to the Junior Dept. did her deliberate errors tumble out! Mighty Sly, Mrs Sweet.

I’ve worked to overcome obstacles, distractions, & build vocabulary. Grad school reading @ 500pp /night not uncommon. Staying awake to cogently summarize became the challenge. I improved comprehension. Now— retention becomes the bear.

Revs who read are a ton more fun to follow when sermonizing. SO—make reading a daily Heart Habit! My method: grab coffee, sink my teeth into the biggest hunk of Scripture/theology I can find, tear and chew, pray thru, and digest! SO: read yourself full, pray yourself empty and preach your heart out. You will find nsights that sparkle and elicits enthusiasm so you have something to say worth hearing.  Not in the pulpit—just— wherever you are preaching these days.